THE PROPOSED CRANDON
MINE
WOULD TRUCK IN UP TO 200 TONS OF CYANIDE A YEARTO THE HEADWATERS OF THE WOLF RIVER

YOU
CAN HELP AB 95 BAN CYANIDE IN WISCONSIN MINES

The Wolf Watershed Educational
Project

DANGERS
OF CYANIDE IN MININGSodium
cyanide is acutely toxic to any living thing. Incredibly small amounts
of cyanide can kill fish. For example, cyanide measured at between 20-80
parts per billion can kill rainbow and brown trout. Birds and mammals
that drink water or feed on cyanide-poisoned wildlife can be killed
if they are exposed to cyanide at between 40-200 parts per million--an
amount also fatally toxic to humans. Leftover
cyanide at very small concentrations has harmed birds and other wildlife
that drank mine pond wastewater. Cyanide is a powerful solvent that
breaks down heavy metals--such as mercury, cadmium, chromium, and lead--that
end up as waste products that need to be dumped. Cyanide can also break
down and form complexes with other chemicals or metals and remain as
toxic. Mixes of cyanide with other metals and chemicals can be just
as toxic as cyanide itself, but they are not routinely monitored or
carefully regulated.

CYANIDE
AT THE CRANDON MINESodium
cyanide would be used as a chemical reagent or solvent to dissolve out
metals from the ore in the "flotation process," particularly gold and
silver. There are significant amounts of gold and silver at Crandon;
the DNR estimates as much as 1,100,000 ounces of gold, and 63,000,000
ounces of silver. Northern Wisconsin also has several other gold and
silver deposits. The
Nicolet Minerals Company (NMC) proposes to transport up to 20 tons of
cyanide per month to the Crandon mine site. Cyanide and other toxics
such as sulfuric acid pose environmental risks from transportation and
storage at the site and also from residuals in the waste dump and in
the waste back-filled into the abandoned mine shaft. DNR consultant
Andres Trevino reported that if NMC uses truckloads of cyanide at the
highest estimated rate, a one-month inventory would be 18-20 tons. If
the mine were to operate for 28 years, over 6,000 tons of cyanide would
be required. Trevino reported that most of the residual cyanide would
end up in the pyrite concentrate that is proposed to be back-filled
into the mine shaft, potentially in contact with groundwater. At least
some residual cyanide would end up in the waste tailings dump. Cyanide
can be treated to become less toxic, but Trevino does not report that
NMC is proposing any active destruction of the toxic chemical. Instead
it appears that NMC simply expects any leftover cyanide to break down
naturally in the waste dump pond when exposed to sunlight. But colder
temperatures, such as in northern Wisconsin, can stop the breakdown
of cyanide.

CYANIDE
DISASTERS AT MINESColorado. Cyanide spills from the Summitville gold
mine contributed to severe environmental problems on a 17-mile stretch
of the Alamosa River. It is now a federal Superfund site, with cleanup
costing $170-200 million. Montana. Mines had 62 spills or leaks of cyanide in
1982-98. The Zortman- Landusky cyanide heap leach gold mine had repeated
leaks and discharges, resulting in wildlife deaths and severe contamination
of streams and groundwater. Nevada. The Gold Quarry mine released about 245,000
gallons of cyanide-laden waste into two local creeks. In 1989 and 1990,
a series of eight cyanide leaks occurred at the McCoy/Cove gold mine,
releasing almost 900 pounds of cyanide. South Dakota. In 1998, 6-7 tons of cyanide-laced tailings
spilled from the Homestake Mine, killing fish in Whitewood Creek, Black
Hills. Guyana. In 1995, over 860 million gallons of cyanide-laden
tailings were released into a major river when a dam collapsed at the
Omai gold mine. Australia. The Northparkes copper-gold mine in New
South Wales killed 2700 birds in 1995.Kyrgyzstan. A truck transporting cyanide to the Kumtor
mine plunged off a bridge in 1998, spilling 2 tons of cyanide into local
waters. Papua New Guinea. A helicopter crash in 2000 released cyanide
bound for a gold mine. Romania. A huge February 2000 spill at the Aural gold mine destroyed
much of the Tisza River ecosystem in Hungary and Yugoslavia; thousands
of dead fish floated into the Danube.

OUR
WEAKENED MINING LAWSState
Statute 160.19(12) says that metallic mines are exempt from the state
Groundwater Protection Law. Statute 291.35 says that metallic mining
waste is not subject to the state�s stringent Hazardous Waste Management
Law, even if it contains cyanide. Mine waste is instead regulated by
DNR rules based on weaker standards for solid waste disposal. Unlike
state statutes, the DNR has the power to grant variances and make changes
to its own rules without legislative approval or public input. Montana
voters in 1998 banned the use of cyanide in mining, halting new sulfide
mine permits. The Czech Republic banned it in 2000. Wisconsin is thus
behind these two historic mining areas in its environmental laws; although
Vilas and Oneida counties have also banned cyanide. The company planning
the Crandon mine claims that its vat flotation process is safer than
the heap leaching process, but this does not address issues of cyanide
waste disposal or transportation of 200 tons of cyanide a year on our
roads. The Crandon mine would also open the door to mining several gold
deposits that would be processed with cyanide.

WHAT
YOU CAN DO TODAYASSEMBLY BILL 95 says simply: "No person may conduct mining or metallic
ore processing using cyanide or a cyanide compound." Over 10,000
Wisconsin citizens have signed a petition to ban cyanide in Wisconsin
metallic mines; similar resolutions have been passed by local government,
sportfishing clubs, tribes, and environmental groups. 1.
Contact Assembly Environment Committee Chair Neal Kedzie
(R-Elkhorn), urging him to allow AB95 to move forward to a vote.
If you are a fellow Republican, say so!...Call toll-free 888-534-0043
or e-mail Rep.Kedzie@legis.state.wi.us2. Call your your Assembly Representative
and State Senator to sign on to Assembly Bill 95 prohibiting cyanide
use in Wisconsin mines, (even if you don't know who they are) toll-free
at 800-362-9472, and tell them you are a constituent. Also contact Governor
Scott McCallum to sign AB 95, at (608) 266-1212 or wisgov@mail.state.wi.us
. You can write him, your reps, and Rep. Kedzie at the State Capitol,
Madison WI 53702. 3. Print out a resolution for your group
or local government to pass at http://treaty.indigenousnative.org/cyanide.html
You can also print off a petition and background information. Use this information
to write letters to the paper and ask media to cover mining's use of cyanide.
4. Keep in contact:
Wisconsin Campaign to Ban Cyanide in Mining, c/o Wolf Watershed Educational
Project, P.O. Box 14382, Madison WI 53714-4382 Call the toll-free Hotline
at (800) 445-8615, or e-mail mtn@igc.org
(For documentation or interviews, e-mail burroak15@aol.com,
call 608-233-8455 or 246-2256; log on http://treaty.indigenousnative.org/cyanide.html
)